


Soulbinder

by fluffykitty12



Category: Fullmetal Alchemist - All Media Types
Genre: Ed Saves Hughes, Gen, HughesLives, badass ed
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-29
Updated: 2020-10-13
Packaged: 2021-03-08 03:28:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 11,859
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26709028
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fluffykitty12/pseuds/fluffykitty12
Summary: Maes Hughes never made it to the phone booth that night. Instead, he was attacked killed by Lust in his office. Roy Mustang was promoted to Central earlier that year, and just so happens to stumble across his recently killed friend. Distraught and not thinking clearly, he runs to call Hawkeye. All Edward can realize is that the corpse is still warm. There's still time. The soul hasn't crossed the gate yet.He knows what he has to do. "Alphonse. Something's wrong here. I need you to guard this door. Whatever happens- don't open it until Hughes says so, okay?""Brother- I don't understand....""There's no time, Al! I need you to trust me! Let NO ONE IN. Not even Mustang! Understand?""Okay, brother.""Thanks, Al. I'm grateful to have you by my side." his golden eyes warm in a rare moment of sentiment. "And I won't leave you until we've achieved our goal."He shuts the office door and stuffs a chair beneath the nob, grabbing and knife and approaching the man's corpse hesitantly. This is going to hurt- a lot. But he's bound Al's soul to a suit of armor- he can do this. He knows the price of calling a soul back from the gate, and he's more than willing to pay.
Comments: 23
Kudos: 148





	1. Chapter 1

Roy Mustang was transferred to Central. 

He wasn't normally a spontaneous person, but he figured he might as well swing by the office of his best friend late at night to give him the good news.

He whistles as he strides down the hallways, so dark and empty, long shadows covering everything. He's curious- what could keep Hughes up and working so late when he's got that wife and kid to go home to?

He might as well help his friend look over whatever it is. He's got a nice bottle of scotch to celebrate, it'll be like old times....

Except his friend's office is dark. But the door was open, his car was in the driveway....

Roy frowns, his footfalls the only sound as he steps into the room. "Hughes?"

His eyes widen as the smell hits him. The metallic scent of blood sends him reeling- the bottle of scotch hits the ground and shatters into a million pieces, spilling amber fire onto the ground.

He stumbles around, hackles raised, confused. "Hughes? _Hughes!?!"_

He finds him behind his desk. The man's front is a mess of blood, it's pooling around him, and he's frantically pressing his hands to the coat, trying to stem the flow, when he realizes there's no pulse beneath his hands, no rise and fall of the chest....

He's staring into the eyes of his dead best friend. Staring at a harsh truth he doesn't want to face. 

" _Dammit, come back!"_ he turned his head to the side and vomits onto the ground, he's shaking and covered in blood.

Normally, Roy Mustang is the one to hold it together in a crisis, but he's a shaking, sobbing mess- unable to think clearly through his own hysteria.

He stumbles out of the room, desperate to find a phone- the only number his shaking hands can recall to dial is Hawkeye's.

* * *

"We'll just ask him if he really saw a red stone all those years ago. It's his report, after all." Ed says, as they make their way down the darkened hall approximately two minutes later.

"But will he remember, brother? It was over ten years ago?" Al's metal feet clump along beside him.

Ed shrugs. "I dunno. But a lead is a lead, and Hughes is a pretty sharp guy- I'm sure he remembers."

They reach the open office door and step inside.

It's dark and quiet, and Alphonse frowns when he steps on something that crunches. "Huh? Oh- someone's broken a bottle of something, brother." he says, looking down to inspect the mess.

Alphonse can't smell the blood. But Ed can, and his heart is sinking- he darts behind the desk and sees the still form and a pair of legs, pools of scarlet, and he doesn't have to see anymore- not the unseeing eyes, or the ashen face- because he _knows,_ the aura of death is in the air, and he steps forward and feels for a pulse but can't find one. But the man's skin is still warm....

His eyes widen slightly.

He knows what he has to do. "Alphonse. Something's wrong here. I need you to guard this door. Whatever happens- don't open it until Hughes says so, okay?"

"Brother- I don't understand...."

"There's no time, Al! I need you to trust me! Let NO ONE IN. Not even Mustang! Understand?"

"Okay, brother."

"Thanks, Al. I'm grateful to have you by my side." his golden eyes warm in a rare moment of sentiment. "And I won't leave you until we've achieved our goal."

He shuts the office door and stuffs a chair beneath the nob, grabbing and knife and approaching the man's corpse hesitantly. This is going to hurt- a lot. But he's bound Al's soul to a suit of armor- he can do this. He knows the price of calling a soul back from the gate, and he's more than willing to pay.


	2. To Catch a Soul

He didn't know how much time he had- all he knew was that the hourglass was running out.

He needed something to draw the array, and he found one of Hughes throwing knives lodged in the wall and pulled it out, running back over the the man he'd grown to care about, feet splashing in the puddle of blood as he did.

He only hesitated for a split second before he was dropping to his knees in the crimson, tugging of the man's jacket and ripping through his shirt.

Only a split second of hesitation- because if this didn't work, he'd totally be mutilating Hughes corpse.

He stuffed that thought into the very large pile of horrible things he tried not to think about, grabbing the knife and starting to cut.

_It has to be deep enough to scar, or the array might disappear when it heals and then his soul will be gone. I hope it's not too deep. How is he not screaming? Oh right. He's dead. But not for long, not for long, just... keep cutting. It can't be too deep. It doesn't hurt him, it's going to help him, it's going to help him...._

That was the mantra he chanted in his head as he carved into the flesh of Hughes chest.

He managed to carve a decent array in a little over a minute.

_I can't call the soul back yet. The body... this body won't hold it. There's so much blood. I'm no doctor, but I have to close it, he bled out before...._

He was pawing at the skin, finding bullet wounds- one in the man's upper left shoulder and the other on his lower right side.

_Blood. Too much blood. Get the blood.... in his blood vessels? In his heart? Dammit, I'm no doctor...._

He clapped his hands, pressing them to Hughes chest, taking care not to activate the array he'd carved and watching the blood pooled on the floor flow back into the wounds.

_I don't know how to close that, how to close blood vessels, I'm not a surgeon.... Basic healing. Al taught me a basic wound healing array a long time ago...._

He pictured it in his mind, covering the first bullet wound and doing his best to seal it, doing the same with his shoulder....

Hughes was growing colder. He had to move faster.

He frantically shrugged off his coat, slicing the palm of his flesh hand open and pressing it to the bloody seal he'd carved into the man's chest.

"Mix the soul data. Like me and Al, just like me and Al...."

He took a fingerful of blood, sketching an array on his arm. "Oh shit, aw damn... this is gonna hurt a lot. But It's worth it. You're going to see Elicia again soon, Hughes." He clapped his hands together, before he was pressing them to the bloody transmutation circle he'd carved in his friend's corpse. The world exploded into white.

* * *

"Riza, he's _dead!"_ He was losing his shit in a phone booth.

"Sir, please slow down! I can't understand you!"

"Don't call me _Sir!_ My best friend- Maes... Riza, I found him, he's... Maes is _gone...._ " And he dissolved into tears.

"Where are you?"

The ragged sobs tearing through his whole body made it hard to reply. "I-investigations." he managed to croak out.

"Is the assassin still nearby? Are you safe- Roy?" she hesitated, but called him by his first name.

"I don't know. They'd better fucking not be, or I'll _burn them to hell...."_

"Roy. Go back to Maes office. I'll be there in five minutes, put on your gloves- I need you to stay safe, you understand me? I understand you're in a lot of pain right now, but you need to keep your head...."

"I don't want you to hang up on me. Please, Riza, I can't...."

"Well you have to!" Riza snapped, voice fiery. "You're a sitting duck in that phone booth. Get into the building- get to the office, find cover- I'll be there soon, Roy, as fast as I can drive. Please. I _can't lose you too. Please. Go inside."_

"O-okay." he wiped at his eyes, stumbling out of the phone booth and back into the building.

He was an absolute mess, but the shock was starting to wear off. He stumbled down the corridors, looking up- he was sure he was hallucinating when he finished climbing the stairs and saw the massive hulking metal form of Alphonse Elric standing outside the office door.

"Alphonse?"

"Colonel?" Alphonse looked surprised to see him. "Colonel, are you okay? Your face looks strange."

"Alphonse... what are you doing here?"

"Brother and I came here looking for Hughes. There was a mess in the office, broken glass, and Ed told me to guard outside while he waited...."

"Alphonse... do you know what your brother saw in there?" Slowly, the beaten gears in his head were starting to turn.

"No. But I trust my brother. He's smart- he'll be alright."

"Alphonse. I need you to step aside. I have to get into that office."

"I'm afraid I can't do that, Colonel- Ed said not to let anyone else in."

"Alphonse, Hughes is dead! Hughes is dead and his body is in there lying on the floor! He was attacked, I don't know where, or when, but he's... he's dead. And your brother... Ed... Fullmetal, what the hell are you doing in there!?! Haven't you learned the first time! human transmutation is impossible!" he was screaming around Alphonse now, trying to shout through the door.

The lights in the room flickered beneath the door, but otherwise, there was no answer.

"Mr. Hughes... is dead?" Alphonse looked as though the world had caved in around him.

"Yes! And your brother is trying to bring him back! I need you to get out of the way so I can stop him before he kills himself!"

"No! I won't! You're wrong! Brother would never try another human transmutation, he's not that stupid!" Al protested.

"Then what the hell do you think he's doing in there with my best friend's _corpse, Alphonse!_ For the love of god, _listen to me!_ You're going to lose the only family you have left!"

"Maybe he's not dead! Maybe Ed is just trying to help him stop the bleeding...."

"Then why didn't he send you for help!?! Get a clue, Al- Alphonse. _Please._ I already lost Hughes tonight... I don't want to lose Edward too." his voice cracked, and he was dangerously close to breaking down in tears.

"I don't know what's going on in there. But I trust my brother to make the right decision. He always has."

* * *

He'd forgotten how unsettling it was to wake up in the world of white.

He didn't remember everything about calling Al's soul back, but he had hazy memories of standing before the gate.

All he could do was pray he wasn't too late.

"Hughes! Are you here!?!" his voice had an erethral quality, and it echoed.

Slowly, a fog that'd been shimmering around by the stone gait shuffled over to him, tendrils curling out at him curiously.

"Hughes?" he asked hopefully.

The fog shimmered at him and moved to wrap around him, and he smelled the familiar aftershave and felt the fatherly warmth, the affection, that was so integral to Maes Hughes.

"Hughes. I'm glad I wasn't too late." he reached out and curled his fingers into the fog, trying to show affection. "I need you to listen to me. Whatever happens- you cannot go through that stone gate, you understand me? If you go through the gate, you'll never get to see your family again. Something really terrible happened, but I'm going to try and bring you home...."

"What a surprise, _Edward Elric."_ A voice of a thousand tongues startled them both- alarm seeped out of the fog around Ed, and Ed was startled as well.

The fog around Ed tightened and pulsated, unsure of this new white being and its intentions.

"It's alright, Hughes- I've seen this guy before. This is the truth."

 _"I am one, I am all, I am god- and I must say, I'm confused as to why you've come back to see me empty handed, Mr. Alchemist."_ Truth dragged out the last word teasingly, circling them carefully. The featureless face loomed closer, sniffing.

"I don't even smell the taboo on you. You weren't stupid enough to try human transmutation again- so how did you get here?" Truth was talking to itself, now, circling them with clashed hands, interested.

"I guess... I guess I remember the way. I've been here before, after all." Ed admitted. He needed to have confidence, needed to get them both back to their side of the world....

"Well then. Shall I open the gate and you can both go through?" Truth asked cheerily. "That is what this soul is here for, afterall!" it pointed towards Hughes.

The mist that was Hughes had begun to shimmer, and Ed shook his head. "Neither of us are going through that gate. I know the price, and it's not worth it." Ed exclaimed.

"It might cost you a lot, but it wouldn't cost him a thing." truth pointed at Hughes. "This is where human souls are meant to go after they die."

The fog jolted in alarm.

"Yes, human, you are indeed dead. All that's left is your soul, which you've coiled around the alchemist."

"Neither of us are going through that gate. I came to find Hughes soul and guide him back to the land of the living." Ed said simply.

An exclamation point pulsated above the truth's head. "Interesting! You wish to violate the natural order so grotesquely yet again! What will you bind his soul to, Edward Elric! Your brother is a suit or armor- will you tie him to a piece of furniture? A doll, perhaps?"

"His body is still in my world. Though it's not in the best shape, it should inhabit him...."

"And what do you plan to pay?" Truth was back to circling, looking at them curiously.

"I don't plan to pay anything. I have the knowledge to bind a human soul. I got it when I paid my first toll." Ed held up an automail arm. "And Hughes hasn't crossed the gate yet. He doesn't belong to you. So why would I have to pay?" he was bluffing hardcore, and he hoped the truth bought it.

"That all may be true. You are one of the few humans with the knowledge of how to bind a human soul. But who will pay your fare back to the land of the living, Edward Elric? When I gave you Alphonse's soul, I took your arm- your arm paid the toll for him to cross the gate he'd already started to enter and go back to your world."

"Hughes hasn't started to cross the gate yet! I can still lead him back!" Ed protested.

"I suppose you could try. But do you know how hard it is to lead an immaterial soul back to the land of the living? There's a reason I charge such a high fee, Edward Elric." the Truth was smiling, now, white teeth showing eerily.

"Okay then. Fine." Ed sighed, sitting cross-legged on the ground. "Make yourself at home, Hughes. We may have to stay here forever."

"What!?!" Truth was once again surrounded by exclamation marks. "You plan to stay in limbo intentionally!?!"

Ed shrugged. "Yeah. Might as well. If you won't tell us the way back, we'll jsut hang around here and annoy you forever." Ed remarked airily.

Truth was grinding its teeth now, looking frustrated. "You are playing a very dangerous game, Elric!"

"Well then work with me here! We want to go home, but I'm not willing to pay a ton to do it! Afterall, I'm going to be guiding Hughes back, so it's not like it should cost a full toll to send him back. He hasn't even started to cross the gate."

"I work on equivalent exchange, Alchemist! I don't want you here forever, so offer me something! It _will_ take time, energy, and power from me, so I must have something in return!" Truth pointed at him angrily.

"Alright. So- How would you like a hand?"

"You're only offering me a hand?" Truth looked disgusted.

"Hughes hasn't crossed the gate yet! You;re getting a hand AND you don;t have to deal with me for awhile longer!" Ed protested.

"I want an arm!"

"Half! You can have half my arm! Up to here-" Ed pointed to just below his elbow joint. "Take it or leave it! I'll even let you have the finger nails!"

"It's a deal!" the Truth crowed happily, and Ed's flesh arm became marred with transmutation marks and dissolved.

"Fuck!" Ed fell to his knees, automail hand grasping his stump as the fog of Hughes soul wrapped around him, trying to comfort him as best ti could and vibrating slightly.

The Truth had two arms, now- one up to the shoulder, and the other to the end of the forearm. It beamed, waving its new flesh hand at them both.

"A pleasure bargaining with you, Edward Elric!"

"Oh thank God. We're going home...." Ed gasped out, before the world dissolved into white light again.


	3. Tourniquet

"Colonel? Are you alright?" Riza rushed down the hallway, coming to a stop and looking confused.

"Alphonse? What are you doing here?"

"He's guarding the door so Fullmetal can get himself killed trying another human transmutation." Roy muttered grimly, and Riza paled.

"Now wait just a minute! If Ed was trying to do a human transmutation, he'd want me there!"

"Alphonse, just stand aside!"

"Why don't we ask Edward what he's doing instead of arguing out here pointlessly." Riza spoke up, silencing both of them.

She stepped to the side of Alphonse, knocking on the office door.

"Edward? Are you alright in there? What are you doing?"

There was no answer.

Riza frowned. "Edward. Open the door, now."

"Brother, are you alright? Please answer me!" Al called.

* * *

He came to in a puddle of blood on the ground. He was laying next to Hughes, who was still on his back.

Warmth pooled around his flesh arm, and he looked down to see the stump of his flesh arm pouring blood in copious amounts. He quickly moved, pressing the stump to the ground to apply pressure and clumsily tugging off his belt with his automail hand.

Truth had only taken up to his forearm. He still had three inches of skin below his elbow, and his elbow joint. He pulled the leather tight with his teeth and twisted it tight, feeling the flow of blood slow and watching the world come back into color around him. He was still woozy, but not nearly as bad.

He had to see- had to see if it'd worked.

He sat up slowly, and ended up flopping down ontop of Hughes bloody chest.

He yelped in surprise, not coordinated and too sluggish to roll off the man. Hughes eyes were closed, his faced serene... but he was breathing. Ed could feel the rise and fall of the man's chest, and he burst out laughing. It'd worked, he'd done it.

There were muffled voices in the distance, but they were too far off, his head was too woozy to pay much attention.

Hughes coughed, before his brown eyes fluttered open.

* * *

The first thing that came into focus was the small person on his chest, a pale face, and impossibly large golden eyes.

"E-Ed?" Hughes whispered.

And that pale face cracked into a smile. "I'm so glad you're back." Ed admitted with a breathless laugh.

"I don't understand what's happened... I was I was alone, there was nothing, but I remember you called my name. I can't remember anything else..."

Hughes eyes widened as he saw the blood on the floor around them. "What the hell?"

"It's alright, Hughes." Ed assured him, trying to get onto his hands and knees but ending up flopping onto the ground beside Hughes.

Hughes eyes widened.

"Oh fuck... Ed... your arm..."

Ed gave him a wane smile, pressing his metal hand to the stump that was still sluggishly bleeding. "It's okay."

_"Open the door!"_

_"Ed!"_

Hughes looked up at the door and heard the voices, and seemed to find his voice. "Hey! Someone help us! I need help in here! Ed's hurt!"

* * *

"He's not answering. Alphonse, we're going to have to break down the door." Riza said.

Al had fallen silent, his gauntleted hands trembling and clenching into fists.

"Can you get through this?" Riza asked Roy, nodding to the door. Roy pushed at the wood and nodded. "Yeah. The kid must've put a chair beneath the knob, but I can shoulder it open, I think..."

He was ready to bodily slam himself into the door when a the voice carried through the wood.

_"Hey! Someone help us! I need help in here! Ed's hurt!"_

Roy froze, eyes widening. That voice- unmistakably Maes Hughes...

He kicked the door to splinters in two good hits, falling over the chair that was in the way and scrambling into the room, Hawkeye and Al right behind him.

Hughes sat in the middle of a puddle of blood, Ed held tightly to his chest. The kid was pale and his automail hand cradled his flesh arm close to his chest...

"His arm is gone!" Hughes looked up, looking frantic. "I don't know what happened, I was unconscious and when I woke up he was like this..."

Roy had gone pale as a sheet. He feel to his knees, reaching out to his best friend hesitantly.

"Why are you looking at me like that!? What's the matter with you!? Help him, dammit!" Hughes was raising his voice, and Roy's mouth was suddenly so dry he found i hard to speak.

"Hughes... you... you weren't unconscious... you were dead. I... I saw your body..."

"You're not making any sense! I'm right here, dammit! We need to get Ed to a hospital, look at all this blood!" Hughes was looking around, near frantic.

"Edward." Roy's voice was barely above a whisper. "What... what did you do?"

"He saved Hughes. Just like he saved me." Al's voice was quiet with awe as he stepped closer, and through the mess of blood Roy could see the transmutation circle carved into the skin of Hughes chest.

"But... human transmuation... my father said that it was impossible." Hawkeye looked stunned.

"He didn't create a human. He just... he caught Hughes soul and managed to bind it back to his body. You're a genius, brother!" Alphonse looked triumphant, before his face fell. "But... your arm..."

Ed had managed to squirm out from where Hughes held him, and he got to his knees and then his feet, wobbling over to Alphonse.

"Don't worry, Al. give me... a few weeks. I'll get automail and we'll... we'll be traveling again in... no time..." his knees buckled, and Al stepped forward, catching his brother and laying him gently on the floor.

"Sir. They both need a hospital." Hawkeye was looping Hughes arm over her shoulder and helping the man stand.

"I'd appreciate it if you'd quit talking around me like a piece of furniture." Hughes admitted. "I can hear everything you're saying, even if I don't understand it! The last coherent memory I have is being attacked by some scantily clad woman- can someone fill me in on how Ed got so hurt?"

Roy was gathering Ed's small form into his arms. "Now isn't the time, Hughes." he said simply, and the odd procession filed out to the parking lot.

Hawkeye guided Huguhes into the passenger seat and Roy ducked into the backseat with Ed still in his arms.

"there's not going to be room. Ed- I'll meet you at Central hospital."

"C-call Winry." Ed managed to mutter.

"I will! I'll be there as soon as I can!" Al promised.

And they were pulling out of the parking lot at a rather irresponsible speed.

Hughes was peering over his shoulder at them constantly, never taking his eyes off of Ed.

Roy shifted slightly under the gaze- he didn't know why, but it unnerved him.

Ed's automail fingers grasped his coat and he pulled himself up straighter, hazy eyes focusing in on Roy.

"When we get to the hospital..."

"Take it easy, Fullmetal." Roy tried to silence the boy, keeping his tone quiet and eyes soft.

"No... you have to listen. I need to give you instructions. Incase his soul comes unbound." Ed said seriously.

Roy stiffened slightly.

"The array- is on his chest. I carved it... don't let them stitch or staple it. It might ruin it, and then... this would all be for nothing..." Ed managed quietly.

"I won't let them touch the array, I promise."

"G-good. If he... if he slips, for some reason... tell Al. He's the only... the only other person who might possibly know how to bind a soul. I don't know if he remembers... But I don't know if I can do it again." Ed admitted, letting his eyes fall closed and leaning back against Roy's chest heavily.

"You won't have to do it again. It's a miracle you did it once." Roy assured him, reaching out to stroke a bloodstained strand of hair away from the kid's face.

"You did the impossible. I should learn to stop underestimating you, kid, but you still manage to surprise e." Roy murmured quietly, looking up to see Hughes still staring at them intently from the front seat.

Ed shuddered. "I'm cold."

"You've lost quite a bit of blood. They'll give you a transfusion at the hospital, I need you to keep talking to me."

"About what?"

"Anything."

"I-if you're going to bind a soul, it's... forbidden knowledge... so... you have to have it from beyond the gate. I learned when... when Al and I tried to bring back mom. I saw it the first time I went through the gate. If... if he slips, and you try to fix it... you'll probably die too."

"That's a cheery topic." Roy muttered, trying to quell the anxiety blooming in his chest.

"Ed? Are we going to the white place? I just remembered that place- I don't want to go back." Hughes spoke up, looking unsettled, from the front seat.

"No... we're not going back there..." Ed said, muffling a groan into Mustang's chest when the car hit a bump in the road.

"What's the white place?" Roy asked, confused.

"It's heaven... or hell. I don't know. It's where souls go when you die, they get... they go behind the gate. And it'd where you end up... if you try to play god." dizziness was tugging on him now, and Ed's tongue darted iut to lick his pale lips.

"Mustang... I think I'm gonna be sick, I'm sorry..."

"It's alright. You're alright. If you get sick, we'll deal with it..."

"I can't go through the gate. If I go through the gate, I'll never see my family again." Hughes said, tone calm but expression panicked. "That's what Ed told me."

Ed groaned. "I did. Because if you went through, I wouldn't have been able to bring you back..."

"And then that guy... he ripped your arm off, and you didn't even scream."

"Hughes, be quiet!" Roy admonished.

Ed was starting to wiggle in his grasp, everything was unnerving the kid, he was in pain and talking about this while the kid was so out of it was even worse...

"Take it easy, Fullmetal." Roy ordered, and Ed stilled slightly- he was sweating slightly, still on the edges of shock. "We're almost to the hospital." he promised.

Ed had gone still- Roy wasn't sure if the kid was asleep or unconscious, but quite frankly, he was glad that at least his expression wasn't pinched with pain anymore.

"Hughes- can you turn around? You're starting to creep me out, staring like that." Roy admitted.

Hughes shook his head. "I can't, you don't understand. If Ed leaves my sight, I'm going to die."

Roy wasn't sure if that was true or not- Hughes wasn't exactly himself, but the only one who had knowledge of soul transmutation was currently unconscious in his lap. So he simply ignored the statement, trying to think about how they were going to explain this all to the doctors...


	4. Out of His Head

**A bit of an explaination of Hughes bizarre and clingy behavior and Ed's idiotic bravado to match.**

* * *

A swarm of doctors and nurses descended on them as soon as they entered the ER. They fluttered around Ed like moths to a flame, a flurry of white gloves, coats and hands as they bandaged his arm and started an IV drip in his flesh foot, asking questions of Roy about what'd happened and the medical history of both of them.

"What the hell happened to his arm!? Do you have the other part of the limb? If you do, we can try to surgically reattatch..." the doctor spoke quickly.

"It's not here! That crazy guy took it, the guy who was trying to take my soul!" Hughes sat up from where nurses were trying to hold him down.

"Sir, please, you've got a lot of deep wounds, lay down..."

The doctor looked alarmed at Hughes statement, turning to Roy.

"They were both attacked. We don't know who the perpetrator was, but they took his arm and did... this... to Hughes." Roy filled him in, making it up as he went.

A nurse was threading a needle and thread, and Roy frowned, remembering Ed's warning not to let any stitches mar the circle he'd carved into Hughes. "Don't stitch the wounds on his chest! The attacker who carved it was an alchemist, if it's touched it could kill him!" Roy lied fluently.

"He's got deep wounds to the upper left shoulder and lower right side. Dr. Evans, we have exposed organs, I don't know how he hasn't bled out yet..." they were speaking hurriedly to one another.

Roy looked between both gurneys and heard a low moan, looking down to see Ed's eyes fluttering open.

"D-dad?"

Roy's heart jumped to his throat, and anything that he was going to say to reassure the kid died on his tongue. He wasn't sure what to say in reply.

Ed blinked, eyes coming into focus. "Oh. You're still here." he looked relieved at the fact, his automail hand reaching out to Roy, who didn't hesitate to take it.

"Where?" Ed slurred, voice tired.

"Hospital. You and Hughes." Roy informed him. "I need to ask you something. Hughes is convinced if he lets you out of his sight, his soul is going to come out of his body. Is that a possibility?"

Ed's tongue darted out to moisten pale lips, before he shook his head. "N-no. It... it was like this with Alphonse, too. When he came back, when a soul comes back... there's an... adjustment period. It took him awhile, to learn to move around in his new body, and if I got out of his sight, he'd panic. Something about... about having someone lead you back to the world, I guess."

Ed paused, blinking. "You know how baby ducks always follow their mom?"

Roy had no idea where he was going with this. "Yeah."

"Whats, whats that called again?" Ed was trying to find the words, but he was exhausted.

"Imprinting?" Roy tried.

Ed nodded. "That. I... for a few minutes, I was Hughes only link to the living world. So he imprinted on me, like Al did. He's convinced that if I go out of sight he'll come unbound, but it's not like that, he's just... imprinted. To him, I am his only link. He doesn't realize that I bound the soul to his body, and that we're not ducks..."

"Will he get over it?" Roy asked. "Al got over it, didn't he?"

"I think so." Ed groaned, leaning his head back against the pillows. "Fuck, I forgot how bad this hurts." he admitted. His grip on Mustang's hand tightened and it was starting to hurt, but Roy didn't have the heart to tell the kid to let go.

"Ed! Ed, you need to stay awake! Open your eyes!" Hughes called over from his cot beside the boy.

A nurse swooped in with papers- consent forms, for both Hughes and Ed's medical treatment.

"Mr. Hughes is going to need to go into surgery to close his wounds. We need you to sign off. Is there anyone we should call for him?"

"Yes. Lieutenant?"

"I'll step out and call Gracia immediately." she confirmed, jogging out of the ER.

Roy sighed, turning back to the doctors. "Will they be okay?"

Doctors were starting to wheel Hughes gurney towards a grey pair of double doors, and Hughes screamed.

"No! No, I'm not going through there! Edward! They're trying to make me go, don't let them make me go! If I go through that gate, I'm never going to see my family again!" Hughes was clawing at the nurses trying to hold him down.

" _Ed!"_

Ed let go of his hand. Roy watched the boy who'd had a limb ripped off shamble over to Hughes, his IV pole trailing behind him.

"Hughes. It's okay. We're not there anymore."

"But the _doors!"_

Ed sighed, sagging against the bed. "You're gonna have to knock him out here." he told the nurse, who nodded, ducking out of the room.

"Ed- when do we get to go home? When do i get to see Gracia again? I didn't get to say goodnight to Elicia." Hughes was crying, now, shaking off the hands of nurses and ignoring their calming voices. It was actually kind of heart breaking.

"Soon." Ed reassured him, with a false smile that was far too convincing for someone so young. "The sooner you sleep, the sooner you'll see them again..."  
A nurse managed to get a syringe of clear liquid into Hughes arm while the man was distracted, and a moment later the man was sagging onto the bed, boneless, and being wheeled off.

"Thank you for defusing that situation, Major, but I must insist you lay back down now." the doctor said, placing his hand on Ed's shoulder.

Ed's body seemed to sag slightly, and he gave the doctor a crooked grin. "I'm way ahead of you, doc." before he went slack, passing out cold.

* * *

**What was your favorite part?**


	5. Surgery

"To be frank, we have two options here. Wrap the stump and let it heal for weeks, or take him in for the rudimentary port surgery now. It will probably be easier on him to put him under and give him the port now- less strain that letting his body heal only to cut him open and insert the port." the doctor spoke.

Roy found it hard to let his eyes drift from the boy laying on the table.

"Did he say he wanted automail?"

Roy nodded. "Yes. He said so, his mechanic is actually on the way..."

"Looking at the workmanship of his other two limbs, I'm sure they're fine mechanics. That being said, Central Hospital has some of the best automail specialists in the nation. You're the boy's legal guardian, if you were to sign off on it, I'd call my colleague and have him put under immediately so the part is already in place when she gets here..."

"The only way I sign off on it is if I'm in the room while the surgery goes down."

The doctor paused, looking puzzled. "I... I can allow that. Though it's a bit... unorthodox to have nonmedical personell in the operating theater."

"Make it happen. Edward has classified military intel, I have to make sure he doesn't say sensitive information while he's in an altered state..."

He couldn't risk Ed talking about Alphonse, about the failed human transmutation, while they were working on the kid. The fact that Ed had managed to heal Hughes body enough to re-bind his soul was probably enough for him to mention things that would get the military authorities involved if he slipped up. Plus- in a selfish way- Roy didn't want to let the kid out of his sight.

"This really is the best for him. Getting the port in now, before his body starts to heal the stump, will be much easier on him." the doctor reassured him, taking the signed forms back and handing the unsigned copies to Roy. He tried not to let his eyes linger on the complications section, waiver and release of liability...

"I have a call to make. I'll tell the nurse to start prepping him- he should be in the theater in under 2 hours."

Roy nodded, trying to ignore the gnawing feelng in his stomach and the fear he felt as he looked down at the unconscious teenager.'

_Am I doing the right thing? Is this what you want? I don't want to see you in pain..._

Roy huffed a sigh, standing up. He was exhausted he had to find somewhere to grab a cup of coffee before this whole thing went down.

One crappy cup of hospital coffee later he installed himself back at Ed's bedside. The kid was still out cold, but two nurses buzzed about the room, one having unwrapped his stump and soaking the wound in saline, gently patting it dry before she was swabbing the entire stump in yellow iodine while another fiddled with his iv.

A third nurse strode into the room, gently lifting up Ed's head and placing a small circular bandage just behind his ear. "It's a patch for nausea." she explained to him calmly, before she was ducking back out of the room.

Roy hadn't seen Ed's injury cleaned and up close, and it was slightly nauseating, but he found it hard to turn his eyes away.

The kid's arm was completely gone from 3 inches below the elbow. At least it wasn;t a full amputation, not like his arm, he tried to rationalize...

A doctor was striding into the room, circling the bed like a shark, inspecting the stump.

"It's a rather clean amputation, doctor. Strong pulse even at the end of the limb." the nurse assured him, rotating it in her gloved hands so he could inspect it closer.

The doctor nodded, scrutinizing it carefully. "Lucky. He's got just enough past the elbow I can make it work for forearm only. If anymore was taken off, I'd say install above the elbow, which is a whole different pony." the doctor frowned, flicking his gaze to Ed's metal arm and leg. "Though for him- it should be familiar."

He peeled back the blankets from Ed's form, picking up Ed's metal ankle and bending his metal leg ninety degrees, watching raptly...

Roy sat up and forward slightly, alarm sparking within him. He was slightly surprised with the ease the man was touching and grabbing Ed.

The doctor's silver eyes snapped up to look at Roy, surprised. "Sorry to startle you. I'm just inspecting his current automail- trying to see which types of installations and hardware they used, which port manufacturers. I'm going to try to keep it as consistent as possible- engineers are often very picky about their work."

He stepped closer to Roy's side of the bed, holding out his hands. "May I?"

Roy realized he was holding Ed's automail hand tightly in his own, and he let go, letting the doctor straighten and bend the metal limb, flexing it and rotating it.

The man peeled back Ed's gown above his collarbone, peering closer to inspect where the port was screwed into his shoulder and collar bone. Roy could see the scars peering out from underneath the steel plating, and tried to push the thought of how many surgeries it'd taken out of his mind.

The doctor nodded, gently setting Ed's metal arm back at his side on the bed and giving it a pat. "He's got a fine mechanic, whoever they are." he reached into his pocket, grabbing a small notebook and starting to write a series of numbers and letters- he was writing down part numbers and model numbers, Roy realized, and he pushed his square framed glasses further up his nose.

He stepped back, continuing to write, as his eyes flickered to Roy. "So- I hear you'll be present in the theater with us as well?"

"Yes."

The nurse stopped her work, looking surprised. "This isn't a very easy procedure to watch. It's quite graphic..."

"Celia, leave us. These aren't normal circumstances." the doctor ordered calmly, tucking his notebook back into his pocket.

"Of course, Dr. Strong." the nurse hurried from the room, leaving them alone.

The surgeon pulled up a chair, sitting down beside the bed and facing Roy, crossing his legs.

"Automail surgery is... well, it's gorey, for lack of a better word. I understand this young man's circumstances require his military superior be present..." the man glanced at Ed's still form, before his gaze was darting back to Roy. "That being said, I feel the need to prepare you for what you'll see so you aren't passing out in the operating theater. Have you seen automail surgeries before?"

"No. But I've seen amputations." He'd helped drag friends out of trenches in Ishval, cauterized bleeding stumps and dragged unconscious bodies. He swallowed unconsciously at the memory.

"Right. Well, he'll be out of it for most of the surgery. I can tell just by looking at his other two limbs, the ports were placed weeks after the injuries healed. This is going to be a lot easier on him, installing it now, so his body can heal around the port. And it'd a relatively less major surgery, compared to his other two. I'll have him on a ketamine drip so he'll have his eyes open, but he'll be catatonic- can't talk, can't speak, not in pain but can't rememeber it for the first two hours. We'll titrate down whenever I'm finished installing the port hardware- then we'll wake him and begin connecting the nerves."

"He's going to be awake?" Roy tried to keep the dread from seeping into his voice.

The surgeon nodded. "Yes. He has to be, for that part- it's needed, to make sure the nerves are corrected. He may scream or cry. Vomiting it a possibility, as well as fainting. I'm an automail specialist, though- if things go according to plan, I can get his nerves connected to the port in less than ten minutes. From there, it's just his engineer hooking up a prosthetic. Relatively smooth sailing, compared to his surgeries before. Can you handle being in the room with that?"

"Yes."

"Alright. I'll see you two in my operating theater in twenty minutes. You'll stay seated beside him most times- I don't want you passing out and hitting your head."

"Understood."

The surgeon nodded and left brusquely.

Once he left, Roy sighed, running a hand through his hair and taking Ed's metal hand in his own, giving it a squeeze. "It's going to be alright, Fullmetal. It'll be okay." _Is this what you want? I hope I'm making the right decision for you..._

BREAK

It was businesslike and quick. They whisked Ed into the theater- seating Roy on the side that wasn't being operated on.

They strapped the kid's stump to a metal table out at his side to hold it still.

Ed's eyelids fluttered and he moved his head as the doctors strapped down his legs and secured the straps around his automail arm, tying his down to the table.

"W-wha?" Ed rasped.

Roy swallowed. "They're installing a port, Ed."

"F-for automail?" Ed asked hopefully, tongue darting out to moisten chapped lips.

"Yes. For automail."

"The sooner I get this over with, the better." Ed admitted quietly.

"That's the spirit, Edward." Dr. Strong- now scrubbed and in a white gown- had tables of instruments around him and two surgical techs in glue gowns on either side of him.

A bald man was seated at the head of the bed, working with Ed's IV.

"You're not going to feel any of the port installation. do you remember what they used to anesthetize you for your other two surgeries?" Dr. Strong asked.

"Ketamine..." Ed offered.

The doctor nodded. "We'll be using the same. Did you have any adverse effects the first time? It can make some people emotional..."

"It went fine. I don't remember much."

"Right. Well, Louis is your anesthesiologist, he'll be keeping the ketamine in your system until the hardware is installed- then we connect the nerves. Are you prepared for that?"

Ed nodded drowsily.

"Has he signed his consent form, Dr.?" one of the nurses sitting behind a desk in the corner of the room spoke up.

"His guardian has signed off. Louis- give him the first dose of ketamine."

Roy watched the anesthesiologist slowly depress the plunger of the syringe, sending the clear liquid into Ed's IV.

Ed gave a sigh, head falling back and eyes glazed over.

"We're about halfway there. Can you still hear me, Ed?"

Ed nodded.

"Lift your right hand if you can still here me."

Ed looked behind him, frowning. "I can still talk. Why bother twitching?"

Ed glanced over at Roy, expression looking confused. "You're still here?"

Roy nodded. "I'm staying?"

"The whole time?"

"Yes, Fullmetal. I'll be here the whole time." Roy promised, feeling his chest tightening slightly as he said those words.

Ed's expression broke into a look of relief, and the tension seemed to leave his body slightly. "That's good. It's worse when you're alone." he said quietly.

They pushed another syringe of ketamine into the kid before Ed stopped talking back to them and went still completely, and the surgeon started his work.

Roy didn't consider himself a squeamish person, and he was slightly amazed at how quickly the doctor and his team worked- cutting skin where needed around the edge of the port, filing down bone, carefully slicing muscles to make room for the metal that was being joined to flesh.

Lines were drawn, retractors used- Ed's skin seemed to fall back from the bone, held open by retractors to reveal red sinewy muscle and large yellow nerves.

Gentle fingers and feather light touch, forceps carefully plucking the severed nerve and gently pulling it of the bed of muscle. They had a small bundle of those waxy yellow nerves sitting in saline- strings from the stump, like the puppet strings that kept people alive and moving.

There was the sound of a drill and grinder, and Roy looked away, not wanting to see and not having the stomach for it, focusing on Ed's face. the kid hadn't moved an inch.

One hour dripped into two, and Roy looked over to see the surgeon with his bloodstained gloves nodding. "Hardware is done. Louis- how long until he's up?"

"He's on the edge right now." Louis admitted.

"Ed- can you hear me?" Dr. Strong asked.

"Hmmm..." Ed turned his head towards Dr. Strong, who loomed over him.

"This is the hard part, kid. You remember this from the last time- we have five major nerves to connect here. I'm doing the first one now." he moved quickly before Ed had time to respond.

Ed's entire body tightened, and Dr. Strong moved quickly, fingers moving nimbly...

Ed's back arched, his entire form going rigid for a moment, before he was laying back on the table, breathing heavily.

"I got two of them, Ed. That was two." Dr. Strong swam back into Ed's field of view.

One of the surgical techs leaned forward, looking at the stump critically. "I don't think they're connected right. He's not screaming. I think you should reconnect.".

"He's a double amputee, of course he isn't screaming!" Dr. Strong snapped. "He's been through this before. Look at him- his pulse is up, sweating, body responding. Not every patient screams. Though most of them do." he admitted.

"It'd just be a shame to put him through all of this and not have them connected right." the tech said.

"They're connected." Ed rasped. "I can feel it."

"I think your services or no longer needed. You can go descrub." Dr. Strong snapped at the tech, who realized their mistake and scurried from the room.

Dr. Strong turned back to Ed. "How're you holding up, Edward?"

"Hurts like hell." Ed said hoarsely.

"I know. These next two are close together- if you like, I can do them both in under a minute. Or I can do them one at a time and give you a break between. You get to pick."

"Both at the same time. As quick as you can."

"Right." Dr. Strong looked back down at the port, nodding to Ed. "Look away. I don't want you to tense up, it'll make it worse."

Edward whimpered, and something in Roy broke.

"Look at me, Fullmetal."

Ed turned, eyes landing on Roy. "You're still here?"

"I haven't left."

"It _hurts..."_

"I know. But it's only going to get worse if we put it off, Edward. Is there anything you do to keep calm while you reconnect?" Dr. Strong asked sympathetically.

"I bite down. I need something to bite down on." Ed looked around desperately.

Roy was on his feet, pushing the chair aside.

"Bite down on my sleeve. I don';t care if you tear the damn thing to shreds, scream, cry all you want- whatever gets you through."

Roy placed his arm on top of the boy's chest, and Ed took the thick blue fabric of Roy's military coat between his teeth.

"I'm going to start now Ed." Dr. Strong moved quickly.

The strap holding Ed's automail leg down on the table snapped as his whole body went rigid. Dr. Strong didn't stop, moving onto the next nerve...

Ed's scream was muffled by Roy's sleeve in his mouth, and he bit down hard, grinding his teeth into the fabric and breathing heavily.

"They're in, Ed. Only one more. Take a minute, you're alright..." Dr. Strong promised.

A few tears escaped Ed's welling eyes, and he released Roy's sleeve from his mouth, head falling back onto the table and panting.

the kid was sweating, and a nurse was handing his a wet rag, and he was wiping off the kid's face, patting his brow dry...

"I don't wanna do this anymore! It hurts!" Ed was on the verge of crying. He turned to look at Roy, eyes swimming with unshed tears. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry, I can't..."

"Don't you dare apologize." Roy growled. "You're nearly there, and I'm so proud of you. You've been through so much already- it's alright. Hey, it's okay, you can scream, you can cry, you can swear- whatever you need to do to get through this, alright? I'm not judging you."

"It hurts! I can't do it!" Ed squirmed against the restraints.

"Shh! Hey, easy. It's okay, Ed. I promise, it's okay. Take a minute to breathe, you're alright, I'm right here, and it's gonna be okay." he'd never spoken to Edward this softly before, but he could hardly bear to see the kid so anxious and in pain.

"It's only one more. Take a deep breathe- both of these times, he did two- this time, it's only one nerve- so it should hurt half as much, okay?"

"This is the last one, Ed. I promise. And as soon as I'm done and we're sure it's connected, I'll have Louis give you another dose of ketamine, you'll be out- no more pain. I promise." Dr. Strong spoke, deep voice even and calm. "Just one more. you can handle one more, Ed, you've already done so well. Are you ready?"

"Sleeve." Ed blinked teary eyes and turned to look at Roy, who obliged, placing the sleeve of his coat in the boy's mouth again. Ed tugged the fabric bentween his teeth, metal hand gripping the table he was strapped onto.

"Alright, Ed. Last one." Dr. Strong promised. His fingers moved expertly, guiding the last nerve into place.

Ed's muffled scream was drowned out by the sound of restraints strapping as he managed to destroy the remaining straps on the table, sitting bolt upright, a choked scream being torn from his chest...

"Hold him still! Don't let him thrash!" Dr. Strong shouted.

Roy was already moving, wrapping his arms around the kid and pulling him tightly to his chest. Ed's next scream was muffled into his chest, his metal fingers tearing holes in Roy's coat as he clenched his hands into fists.

The kid tried thrashing in blind agony, but he was held relatively still, metal hand squeezing Roy's shoulder so hard it throbbed as he held the writhing body close to his own, murmuring soothing world and trying to led some of his calmness bleed into the boy as a choked sob sounded...

"It's okay. It's okay. I'm so proud of you- you're alright, that was the last one, it's over now..."

Ed let out a muffled mixture between a wail and scream.

"I need to know if you're in pain, Ed. I know that hurt a lot, but it should be over in about 30 seconds. If it's still hurting now I might have connected wrong. Does it still hurt?" Dr. Strong was looking at him with concern.

Ed muttered something into Roy's chest, and Roy frowned, peeling him off him slightly so he could understand.

"Doesn't hurt anymore. Just so... tired." Ed's face was pale and drawn, he was shaky and looked absolutely spent.

Dr. Strong nodded, turning to look at the anesthesiologist. "Louis. Give him another dose."

The scrubbed man managed to weave between Ed from where he was clinging to Roy, locating the IV line at Ed's flesh foot and carefully injecting another syringe of clear liquid into it.

Ed let out a low gran, sagging forward against Roy.

"He's out. Good. Poor kid's nerves are shot, most people have to be sedated after the initial install like that..." Dr. Strong stepped forward, hand extended.

Ed's head turned to see the doctor.

"You still with us, Ed?"

Ed nodded sluggishly.

"You did incredibly well. I'll send the nurses in with a gurney, we'll get him a room..." Dr. Strong strode past them, ducking out of the theater.

Ed was fairly limp against Roy, just breathing, eyes glassed over.

"You're alright. You did well, Ed- I'm proud of you." Roy smoothed messy golden strands of hair back into place.

"Thank... you. For staying." Ed spoke slowly, like it was taking him a lot of effort to get the words out.

"I wasn't just going to leave you alone through that. You're exhausted- go to sleep."

Ed looked up, golden eyes desperate. "But what if I talk in my sleep..."

"You won't. I'm right here, I'll make sure you're quiet..."

"Thank you." the expression of relief on Ed's face was palpable as he sagged forward against him, burying his face in Roy's chest, metal hand tightening around Roy's shoulder. " _...Dad."_

Roy went rigid when he heard the muffled world the kid had muttered, before he looked down at the slack form in his arms and steadied himself.

Ed was nearly delirious with pain. The kid had just been dosed with ketamine. He wasn't in his right mind. Couldn't be...

_That's the second time he's called me Dad._

He didn't mean it. Of course he didn't mean it. Ed had never needed anyone, always so strong, so independent... Besides, he was no kind of man who deserved to be called a father. Not after everything he'd done. But he couldn't stop the constricting feeling in his chest at the thought of never seeing Edward again...

_He gave up his other arm to save Hughes. To save your best friend. You owe it to him. To do the best you can- to help him. You've always wanted what's best for him. That's what being a dad is, right?_

He wasn't sure. He was absolutely, hopelessly out of his depth. He'd never had a father- his parents had been killed when he was a toddler- and it was leaving him hopelessly out of his depth as to how to deal with the subordinate who was quickly becoming less of a loudmouthed brat and more of a family than he could've imagined.

A nurse came in with a gurney, and Roy turned, carefully arranging his precious burden onto the cot, taking special care to make sure Ed's IV wasn't pulled from his flesh foot and treating the newly installed port on Ed's arm as if it was made of glass.

A gloved nurse ducked in, wrapping the new metal end of the stump in gauze and bandages. "This should heal beautifully. Doing the surgery right after injury is a lot of stress for the body, but in the long run, it's a lot easier..." she reassured her.

Roy nodded, but he wasn't really listening. He strode alongside them as the wheeled Ed into a new room, his fingers idly playing with the hole Ed had bitten into the sleeve of his coat as he thought about everything that'd just happened.

Ed was still out cold, chest rising and falling steadily beneath the white sheet that covered him in his hospital bed.

"Rest up, Kid. You deserve it."


	6. Forbidden Alchemy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Roy must answer to a furious Pinako Rockbell, Ed is happy he's already completed his port surgery, and everyone realizes there are a lot more questions than answers.

He fell asleep in a chair next to Edward's hospital bed.

He stirred once at dawn to find Alphonse in the room, hovering in the corner nearest his brother's be nervously.

"Hello, Alphonse. I didn't hear you come in." he sat up, wiping at his face and trying to compose himself.

"I've been here for a few hours. Winry and Granny should be here any time now, they promised to take the first train to Central... How was he, Colonel?" Al asked, watching his brother sleep worriedly.

"He's alright. They managed to install his port completely. I... I'm no automail exert, but the way the surgeon made it sound, the hard part is over and he just needed to get the arm installed."

"Really!? They did the port already!? That's great news!" Alphonse looked excited. "It took so many zurgeries last time,. Brother never complains, but I know it hurt him a lot. To have it all done in one night is great!"

"That's what the doctors seemed to think was best. Has he woken up at all?" Roy leaned forward. Ed was sleeping peacefully, a bag of saline in his arms, lips parted slightly but breathing evenly.

Al shook his head. "Nothing yet. But he was always asleep after surgery the first time, too..."

"Say, what time is it?"

" _Edward!"_

Winry stumbled into the room, hair a mess and face red from running. She stumbled for a moment, trying to compose herself, before she was drifting sadly over to his bedside, hand outstretched as though she wanted to touch him, looking at his bandaged stump sadly.

"Oh, Ed..." her voice was soft, and she looked dangerously close to crying. "What did you get yourself into this time?"

"I want to have a word with you!"

Roy's head snapped around, and he found Pinako Rockbell herself, pipe smoking like a chimney and face red. Her gaze darted over to Ed's sleeping form- Al and Winry were speaking quietly, and Pinako took a drag of her pipe and jerked her head towards the door. "Outside." she said through clenched teeth.

Roy stood, trying to make his hair look more presentable and less like he'd just slept in his uniform as he strode into the hospital hallway behind the small, irate woman.

"What the _hell_ happened to him!?"

"There was... an incident." Roy chose his words carefully.

"Really, I hadn't noticed! You signed those boys into the military so Ed could get his missing limbs back, not _lose another one!"_ Granny chewed on her pipe angrily, lips working furiously. "When Edward signed that contract and I let them leave my home with you, I assumed you were going to _take care of them!_ And instead you let _this_ happen, and you don't even have the decency to give me a straight explanation!? Who the hell do you think you are!?"

Roy straightened his posture slightly. He may have been exhausted as hell, but it sounded a lot like she was accusing him of taking poor care of the Elric brothers. She was wrong.

"I understand you're upset. But I can't disclose everything that's happened right now."

"And why the hell not!?" Pinako pointed a wrinkled finger at him, and for a moment Roy was sure the smoke wasn't coming from her pipe, but her ears, as she stared him down like an bull.

"We both know Edward has a lot of experience in... forbidden alchemy." Roy spoke the last word quietly.

The pipe fell from Pinako's lips and hit the tile floor of the hospital. Her face went pale, and her hands dropped to her sides. "He's done it again?" she looked horrified.

"No. Not exactly. I promise you, I will explain it to you- in the privacy of my office." Roy assured her. "I've been a little busy trying to make sure Ed gets the best care he can. I'm no automail engineer, but he was talking about getting automail, so I was talking to the doctors..."

"And you think you're qualified to make a decision like that?" Pinako picked her pipe up off the floor and took a drag of it, squaring her shoulders and looking at him angrily.

"Actually, legally, I am. I'm the boy's guardian, and I already signed off on it."

"Granny! Granny!" Winry tore out of the hospital room, blue eyes shining.

"You're not going to believe it! They gave him the Mark Nine chromium Port! The Helix Edition! They've already got it installed, they put in the exact same chrome fittings I used, it's gorgeous! You have to come see! I didn't event think they'd started selling them yet!"

Pinako paused, shooting one last glance at Roy before she was ducking back into the hospital room.

Winry had donned rubber gloves and unwrapped Ed's stump, and the shining metal of a new port was visible as she gently handled it.

"They've got the newest bone screws and everything! It's just been put in, so it's not set and healed, there's still some drainage- but look how they ran the nerve circuits, it's gorgeous!" Winry continued to babel excitedly.

Pinako drew a small flashlight from her pocket, instructing Winry to hold the port while she inspected it's craftsmanship, making sure it was up to her standards.

"It's crazy how well done this is! I don't think I could've done better myself! And they did it in a few hours!" Winry was gushing happily.

Pinako finally finished her inspection of the port, humming. "It'll do. It needs three weeks to heal before we can even consider attaching an arm, but it's alright."

"Who did the surgery? Do you remember the surgeon's name? Al said you stayed with him during the surgery, who was he?" Winry was looking at Roy excitedly.

"You stayed in the room?" Pinako looked surprised.

"Yeah. Couldn't risk him talking about... sensitive topics... while he was drugged. It was a young surgeon, silver eyes, dark hair. Dr. Strong, I think his name was..."

"Oh my gosh! He's the second best automail surgeon in the country! No wonder this is so well done! Do you think we could have him autograph it if he comes by to check on Ed!? Engrave it, maybe?" Winry continued to chatter on excitedly, and Pinako herself blinked, looking a little dumbfounded, before she was crossing the room and scrutinizing Roy again.

"How did he take the surgery?" she asked critically.

"Most of it was fine. Two doses of ketamine, he was under for most of it. He didn't have a hard time until the end..."

"They all have a hard time at the end. How bad was it? How long did the nerve connections take?" Pinako asked, rapt at attention.

"They were done in under ten minutes. He still had a hard time, but as soon as they were sure the last nerve was attached properly, they give him another dose of ketamine. He's been asleep since."

Pinako paused. "And just who gave you the idea to put him through automail port installation surgery right after he lost his arm?"

"The Surgeon, actually. He said it would be easier on him than waiting for his body to heal and then cutting him open again to install it."

"Well, he's right. The only reason I waited so long the first time was because when Alphonse brought him to the house, he was half dead from bloodloss. I knew he wouldn't survive the surgery then, so I had to wait for him to heal before I did it piecemeal, one surgery at a time. It's a lot harder that way."

"Winry?"

Everyone stopped talking and stared at the pale form on the bed.

"Brother!"

"Ed, you're awake!"

"Of course I'm awake. It's morning. My arm is still gone, huh?" Ed looked down at his stump, squinting. He looked at it critically, then looked over at Winry. "You... you put in the port already?" he asked, looking at her in disbelief.

"You've got a port alright, but I didn't put it in. You got lucky- you had the second best surgeon in the country put it in for you last night! It's a work of art!" Winry's eyes sparkled.

"It's... it's all done?" Ed asked hesitantly.

"Yes, all of it! We just have to give it a few weeks to heal and then we can get you a new arm. And it's below the elbow, so this should be a little easier than your other two to recover from..."

"That's great. The last one hurt like hell. Seventeen surgeries. Glad I don't have to do that again." Ed looked relieved, laying back on the pillows.

"How're you feeling, Fullmetal?"

Ed blinked, surprised. "You're still here?"

"Yes. Now answer the question."

Ed shrugged. "Tired, mostly. A little dizzy. But I'm alright- I've had worse. How's Hughes?" Ed's golden eyes wavered with worry for a moment.

"I don't know. I'll go find out- I'm sure he's still here somewhere- but he was fine the last time I saw him." Roy promised, standing. "You want me to get you anything?" he offered.

"Water would be nice." Ed sounded hopeful.

"Alright. I'll be back soon." he ducked into the hallway. Half of him was glad to be away from all the commotion, and the other half of him was still slightly worried about Ed and Hughes.

He only made it halfway down the hallway before he bumped into a nurse.

"Do you know which room Maes Hughes is in?" he asked hopefully.

She pointed him down the hall.

Hawkeye was sitting in the corner of the room, and Gracia sat beside the bed, holding her husband's hand.

Both women looked up when Roy entered the room, Gracia standing and running over to him anxiously.

"What happened? All the surgeon said was they managed to close his internal injuries and he'll sleep for awhile- but nobody will tell me what happened!"

"It's complicated."

"How is it complicated!?" Gracia demanded. "I want to know who did this to him! It was an alchemist that attacked him, wasn't it!? I saw the transmutation circle carved into his chest when they changed the bandages! I want to know why!" Gracia was in tears, now, demanding answers.

Roy took a deep breath and steeled himself. "When I found him last night, your husband was dead. No pulse. Stone dead on the office floor."

Gracia gasped, going white as a sheet.

Hawkeye quickly stood, getting a chair behind her and helping her sink down into it.

"B-but... how?"

"I don't know who killed him. All I know is he bled out. I panicked and ran to call Hawkeye. When I came back... Ed and Al had found him. And Ed is the one who carved the transmutation circle into his chest."

"What? But... why would he do that?" Gracia was still at a loss for words.

"Gracia. You know Alphonse is an empty suit of armor. Edward gave up his arm to bind Al's soul to that suit of armor when they were children, in the accident that took Ed's leg. Edward is the only alchemist I know of who's capable of binding a human soul to an inanimate object, and apparently he managed to do it with a body as well. Ed found Hughes- and decided he wasn't going to let him go without a fight. He carved that circle to bind Hughes soul back into his body. Edward gave up half his other arm last night in exchange for bringing Hughes back into his body. He called him back from the dead.".

"W-what?" Gracia was sobbing, her hands clenched her skirt. "Oh, Edward... tell me you're lying! That poor boy!"

"I was there, Gracia. He's telling the truth." Hawkeye said, placing a hand on her shoulder.

"B-but Ed... Edward has lost so much? Why- damn that boy, he has a heart of gold, Maes was right!" Gracia dissolved into tears completely, burying her head in her hands.

"I know this is overwhelming. It was for all of us, too, at first. But we're going to get through this, all of us are... just... please, keep quiet about all of this. Edward did the impossible, according to all known alchemy- but if the government found out about this, they might want to run tests. We're all doing our best to sweep this under the rug." Hawkeye informed her.

"Where is Edward?" Gracia looked up- her crying had lessened, and she wiped at her eyes sadly. "I want to thank him. For both of us. I... I have so many questions. Will my husband be alright?"

"I'm not as well versed in forbidden alchemy as Edward, but I spoke to his brother last night, and Al seems to think so. The soul binding was a complete success. The only issue is the scarring- the arrary carved into his chest has to scar. And if it were ever to be cut or damaged in anyway, his soul might come unbound again..."

"Is he... can he die? Is he immortal?"

Roy swallowed. He hadn't thought of that. "I don't know." he admitted. "There's just... there's a lot we don't know. I'll need to speak to Edward some more, but he's not exactly in the best condition at the moment. He's just come out of automail surgery, getting a port installed in what's left of his arm, so he's not up to in depth conversation at the moment."

"Oh. I see. It seems we have a lot more questions than answers here." Gracia let her hands fall to her lap, looking forlorn. "I just have one more question, though- if an alchemist didn't attack and kill my husband, and it was Edward carving that circle that brought him back- they who _did_ kill Maes?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did you like it? If so... feel free to drop by ko-fi.com/fluffykitty12 and buy me a coffee so I can keep staying up late writing these! :)


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